Belfast students top list for nuisance parties after council receives 128 complaints

Research found that Belfast City Council received a total of 128 complaints against student parties from September 1 to October 1, the period coinciding with freshers week.

The figures were revealed via a freedom of information request carried out by Ivory Research, one of the UK’s leading research companies.

While Belfast topped the list of party complaints, some of the UK’s other worst offenders include Manchester with 99 complaints, Bournemouth with 78 and Leeds with 50.

Some of the least complained about areas included Burnley, Cheltenham, Dartford and Plymouth with either one or zero complaints throughout September.

The research requested the number of complaints the council received against student houses from September 1 to October 1 this year.

‘Student houses’ refers to Houses of Multiple Occupancy in which the occupants are full time students attending university, shared Student halls of residences or privately rented student homes.

Belfast City Council’s Jim Rodgers said: “I’ve no doubt that it will calm down as the term goes on but what’s so concerning is that we are right up at the top of the league with regards to this.

“We need to do something to address it.

The Ulster Unionist councillor continued: “The vast majority of students are well behaved, they cause nobody any problems, but you just seem to have this small number who get intoxicated, some of them are even on drugs, and they are wreaking havoc. People are fed up with it.

“What concerns me as an elected representative in Belfast, it gives the image of the city a bad name. I don’t want to see that continuing to happen.

“I would appeal to those who are doing this to take a long, hard look at themselves. I know the universities have been trying to address this problem, it hasn’t been easy for them. They are making in-roads.

“Certainly the council play a leading role and the police. Working together we can, maybe not eradicate it completely, but reduce the problems that we’ve been experiencing now for several years.”

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